REPRODUCED FROM HI-FICHOICE
wel-damped 18mm-thick MDF wals; nice real-wood veneeris also ofered.The resultis a speaker with a very wide claim ed frequency response,one thatgoesdown to 25Hz(no cut-of pointspecified)with a sensitivity figure of88dB. The laterm ightnotbe anything to write hom e about, but most modern solid-state amps shouldn’thaveaproblem withit.Placem entproves to be easy,with controled bas from as close as 30cm from the rearwal. Sound quality Given thisspeaker’srelativelycom plexdesign,the Majistra is actualy an exceptionaly gifted loudspeakeratthisprice.Itsgreateststrength isits al-round excelence;indeed itwilsurprise anyone who thinks they know whata sm al-to-m id sized floorstandercan and can’tdo. First thing’s first, this Neat ofering is able to conjure up the best treble perform ance of the group by a fairdistance;itsribbon tweeterm akes the ride cym bals on the Felttrack sound soaring and ethereal. O n Gregory Isaacs’NightNurse,the hi-hats are deliciously delicate and defined.Thisalso im pacts the m idband, giving acoustic instrum ents and vocals a crystaline glint com plete with sparkling harm onics.The piano work,forexam ple,on the Led Zep cutis a pleasure to behold.Italso has ram ifications for the stereo im aging too; this speakerofers a great,out-of-the-box sound that hoversinspace.Again,it’sup therewiththebestof the restin thisrespect–like the Paradigm . “Exceptionaly gifted atthe price,M ajistra’s biggeststrength isits al-round excelence”
to sound biggerand les strained athigh volum es than you’d expectgiven the cabinet’sdim ensions. O n realypowerfullow-end transients,such aswith the sub-bas on the M anixtrack,there’sles hintof com pres ion and/orunease athigh listening levels than alhere exceptperhapsthe M is ion 770.Even the ATC SCM 19 with its profes ional heritage doesn’tquite pulthisof.Yetthe ATC doeshave a tighter, tauter and les lumpy bas; there’s definitely a slight‘sweetspot’in the upperbas , whichistheonlyblotonanotherwisespotles copy book.O veral,this is an extrem ely ac om plished perform er– and state-of-the-artatitsprice.
Neat Acoustics can be found at the folowing Audio T stores - Brighton, Cheltenham, Portsm outh and Reading. Please feel free to contact one of these brances to arange a dem onstration.
Then there’s bas perform ance,which is superb. TheM ajistrapulsofanam azing trickofbeing able
MUSICATHOME+ 59
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